quilting · wild rose quilter

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day


I had this adorable, cheerful client quilt under my needle to brighten the cloudy, cold, wet day we had.

We were supposed to get 4″ or more of snow overnight and into the afternoon, but we ended up with only a dusting.

I spent the rest of my quilting time today working on more star blocks for the commissioned quilt I’m making. I’m keeping my little grandsons the rest of the week. I didn’t have them today, however I did have lunch with them, my son and hubby. So, I had some “son-shine” in my day, as well. 😍

quilting · quilts · wild rose quilter

Good Day


Today was just a good day. I had my two youngest grandsons and they were a blast today. A client dropped off a quilt for me to longarm quilt for her. And, I got a nice squishy in the mail from Missouri Star Quilt Company. In addition to the two lovely quilt backs I bought, they threw in two extra goodies for free! A sweet little pattern and cute pin set. Gotta love that! Thank you, MSQC!

Yesterday I didn’t have my littles and got quite a bit more work done on the commissioned memorial quilt I’m making for a recently widowed client. I laid a few blocks out on the floor to see how they look mixed together.

There will be 49 blocks altogether. These blocks are made from several of his shirts and even some swimming trunks he wore on their vacation trips to Mexico. I hope it brings her much comfort when it’s finished. I purchased the pattern several years ago from Quiltin’ Tia Quiltworks called Gracie’s Star. I’ve really enjoyed this pattern. This is one of my own quilts and the first one I made using this pattern. I love this quilt. ❤️

And, this is a cute cowboy themed baby quilt I made with it.

Have good night and a fantastic Friday tomorrow! Thanks for visiting me.

Family Farm · favorite things · nature · photos · Ranch · wild rose quilter

Sunday Scenery, Part 2


It was a busy day taking care of grandsons. I feel so blessed to have been able to take my retirement at my earliest eligibility from my job in criminal justice, and be able to be so involved in their lives while they are still so young. I never got to be a stay at home mom with my son when he was growing up.  Being able to step away from outside employment has also finally given me the freedom to pursue my career as a longarm quilter, a job I love and am passionate about it. Finally. I also do all the administrative duties for my husband’s and my small oilfield service company, so I’m retired, but not retired, if that makes sense. Anyway, I mostly popped in here tonight to finish posting pictures from my hike at the family farm yesterday. I’m certainly not a real photographer. I’m fully aware of that, but I enjoy looking for things that catch my eye and taking pictures anyway. Maybe someday I’ll be able to take a class and learn how to take better photos. For now, I’ll just keep having fun with it. I do have a fairly nice digital camera, but these were all taken with my iPhone.

The moss is turning a bright, pretty green.


Even the fallen trees have a beauty of their own.


So peaceful.

 

Family Farm · favorite things · Ranch

Sunday Scenery, Part 1


Today, I thought I’d share some pictures I took while my mister and I were doing a little hiking on some family farm & ranch land I share with my brother and my cousin Dee. It belonged to our grandparents on Mom’s side. Someday soon I’ll try to write a longer post about it, but for tonight it’s a quick post with some of my favorite shots from our day. We went to move some game cameras and change batteries in them, but I can never resist exploring when I’m there. ❤️

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That sky, though.
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Deer scrape on this little scraggly cedar.
4266A6CF-6761-4C43-BE91-D89FDAED5E99 This tree hanging on to the inside edge of a pretty deep ravine by its roots.

 

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View from above.
A98821D1-4425-4F7E-BDC9-E73FA525A1D4 There wasn’t enough time today to follow this little trail down into the ravine, but I’m looking forward to the first opportunity to follow it down.

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I have more to share, but it’s getting late and I’m tired. If you enjoyed these, be checking back for part 2. I’ll try to get the rest posted soon! Thanks for stopping by!

nature · quilting

Frozen to Melting


The day dawned dreary and frozen here.

Noon-time has brought sunshine breaking through and the ice is releasing its hold on the captives it has encased in its frosty, glistening coating. Some is simply dripping away, and from time to time I hear large chunks crash onto the patio out back. It’s pretty to look at, but treacherous for travel so I’m glad it isn’t sticking around long.

It is a good day to get some sewing done!

food · quilting

Wrapping Up this Thursday


As this day has wound down to a close, I’m sitting by the bedroom fireplace listening to little sleet balls ping against the windows. It’s supposed to do that all night. I’m glad I don’t have anywhere I have to go in the morning.

I did pretty good at getting most of my to do list tackled today. I did my paperwork that needed tended. I focused on cutting out more pieces for the commissioned quilt instead of sewing. The cutting seems to be moving rather slowly as I’m not using fat quarters I can stack and cut multiple block sets from at once. Using clothing makes that part quite a bit more tedious. At least it does for me. Some of the fabrics are a bit fussy to work with, also. I’m anxious to see how it comes together. It has such a varied array of patterns, colors and fabrics, but each item has special meaning to my client.


I did make my first chicken fried venison steaks with some back strap meat from the doe my husband harvested. This was a first for us both as it was his first deer. I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out quite tasty.

I used my Pampered Chef meat tenderizer on it before soaking in it milk for about 4 hours before frying. It was also my first time using it as it’s a recent purchase. I was very pleased with it. It made quick work of getting the steaks prepped. I had them all done and soaking in less than 15 minutes. I have no affiliation with Pampered Chef, but I do have and use several of their products.

I always lose some of the crispy coating when I cook chicken fried steaks and I don’t know why. If you have any tips for keeping it stuck, I’d love to hear them.

quilting

Late Start to a Busy Day


Today and tomorrow are my son’s days off so I’m not keeping my two littles and have my days filled with my own activities. However, I really overslept this morning. On the to do list is a workout, paperwork for our oilfield business, some stitching on a commissioned quilt for a client, and cooking up some venison. I’m new to that last one. My husband harvested his first ever deer on my family farmland, which I inherited a share of when my mom passed. I’ll share more on that as we go along here. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. Today, the plan is to try chicken frying some back-strap. Check back later to see how this all ends up and how many things I actually get checked off my list. But first, I have a breakfast date with my hubby. Oh, and there’s a massage appointment scheduled in the afternoon for me, also. I have a feeling I’m not going to get everything accomplished that I wanted. That’s just a typical day for me though, lol.

In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful client quilt I got to do the longarm quilting on recently. One of my favorites from last year. Thanks again to Ruth Ann for trusting me with this treasure! This is all freehand and ruler work.

quilting

Orange


I loved this orange and white Irish Chain client quilt that I had the pleasure of quilting recently. My client asked me to keep the quilting simple. I decided an orange peel design would be perfect. Sometimes less is more and simple can be stunning. I was very pleased with the end result. I usually use a ruler to quilt continuous curve, but I had gotten my Intelliquilter installed right before this one came up for its turn on the machine. So, I programmed in the quilting path row by row and watched the IQ do its thing. It was fun and exciting to see it turn out.

 

 

It’s such a bright, uplifting quilt. One I hated to see go back out the door. I really need to make an Irish Chain for myself someday.
I’ll sign off with this beautiful sunset with a streak of more beautiful orange. Goodnight all.

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quilting

A New Favorite Treat


Wow, the wind is blowing like a hundred miles an hour here today. Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it is bad y’all. Our area is in a wind and fire advisory. When the wind is this bad it always makes me feel a bit unsettled. I have my two youngest grandsons with me today til their parents get off from work. They have been busy bees today, but right now we are having a bit of calm while they watch a few cartoons. That gives me a chance to snuggle up and get cozy under my chicken quilt with one of my small humans,

and enjoy sipping from a big tumbler full of a yummy high caffeine black coconut tea I bought at the Old Barrel Tea Company in Ruidoso, NM when we traveled there for a holiday getaway right after Christmas.

I’m glad they ship because I’m going to want more of this when I run out. I also got a nice decaf one called Mountain Sunrise that I’ve been enjoying hot in the evenings. It has a nice, light citrus flavor. I need to try it over ice, also. What are some of your favorite teas?